Malloy Must Resist Calls For Favors, Jobs

November 28, 2010|Kevin Rennie, NOW YOU KNOW

Democratic and Working Families Gov.-Elect Dannel Malloy is forming his new administration. Whatever shape it takes and policies it adopts, the Malloy administration will be different from Gov. M. Jodi Rell's last four years in two crucial measures:

In January, state government will be run by its chief elected official. Second, the new governor will not ignore the long menu of serious problems that Rell leaves from four years of sleepwalking.

Malloy appears to enjoy being busy. The state's economic straits, however, should restrain his instinct to make government bigger and more intrusive. His administration will fail if his prime motivation is to cement the privileged governing class into place as state government's finances collapse from the strain of short- and long-term commitments.

Politicians love the love, so it will be painful for Malloy to disappoint many of his supporters who prosper in the status quo. Others will be unhappy because they expected to advance under the first Democratic administration in 20 years.

Phone calls and resumes are making their way to Malloy's transition team and anyone who might know someone in that small group of influence brokers. Many legislators re-elected in November are baying for new jobs in the executive branch. There is danger in those resumes.

The new governor promises to be a break from the irresponsible past. The calamity he confronts was created by Rell and the Democratic General Assembly's refusal to face the reality of what Connecticut can afford. The legislators performed the feat of being as, or more, irresponsible than Rell. That's not the sort of talent that will lead the Malloy administration to success.

There are other problems with appointing legislators to the executive branch. One of the most troublesome is that they often don't possess much practical experience in the area where they covet a full-time job. They may have asked questions of a commissioner or referred constituent problems to a legislative liaison, but that's as close as they usually get to the essentials of the wheels that grind in bureaucracy.

Most of them have never run anything. Casting thousands of roll call votes bears no relationship to mastering the command of a state agency composed of hundreds or even thousands of employees. Legislators adopt enormous budgets but know little about administering them.

Politicians do not always make good subordinates, especially in difficult times. The Malloy administration will have to make changes that the bureaucracy will resist. Many of those insiders supported Malloy, so they may become especially angry when he calls for government to share in the sacrifices he will impose on working people outside state government.

Former legislators are no match for bureaucrats who know how to lay a trap for the chummy politician with new responsibilities. They notice when a politically connected appointee adopts the habit of arriving at 10 a.m., takes long lunches and spends two hours at the Y. It happens. The ordeal of change causes resistance and then counterattack. That's when leaders get embarrassed and diverted from their essential tasks. You can hear the axes starting to grind.

Then there is the pension issue. Serving in the legislature is a very part-time job. Depending on the position they hold, legislators make in the range of $30,000 a year. Their pensions are based on that plus mileage and their annual expense payment. (Outrageous, but that's for another time.)

The gluttony of the governing class is found in its pension benefits. This has begun to rankle in an aging state with a declining economy. A few terms working part-time in the legislature turn into a winning ticket in the pension lottery when combined with several years in the executive branch at a high salary. Calculating the effect of a gubernatorial appointment on a legislator's pension will become a recurring, corrosive feature in the news, if Malloy succumbs to the quivering calls of legislators eyeing their pensions at the expense of his credibility.

Malloy larded the transition team he announced last week with some tough inside and outside operators. They need to deliver the political version of "no": He wants to, but he can't. That will save him a lot of trouble.

Kevin Rennie is a lawyer and a former Republican state legislator. He can be reached at kfrennie@yahoo.com.